I believe that the impact of race/ethnicity is an important science because these two categories

can be applied to the studies of these minorities and also it can give the population a better
understanding of these causes of disease. From reading articles and learning it in class, race has
been defined as one of the main social determinants of health. By continuing to research this
determinant, it will better help society learn how to take action and make a change between
these minorities. Having your race determine your life expectancy can be stressful especially for
not only and individual, but also to a parent because parents will do whatever it is in order for
their child to live a healthy life. It is unfair how something like this can determine what type of
pathological disease one may experience. Dr. Krieger explains how race as a factor can be used
to document, monitor, and analyze the impact of racial injustice on peoples lives including their
health (Krieger, 2008). Race and ethnicity continues to be an important science to research
because it can lead to other health disparities and it can help understand why someone of this
race is experiencing a certain disease.
On the other hand, I can see how research on racial/ethnicity can be seen as unsound.
Why believe something that has no data? Dr. Krieger talks about how race isn’t biological, many
people today do not believe that your race can affect your health (Krieger,2008). Racism effect
everything, from health, opportunities, and everyday life. Dr. Krieger even discusses how self
reports can be inflated and how these reports may not fully capture what people think and feel.
She tried a new approach called Implicit Association Test which studied racial discrimination
and since this was a computer based method, the results were misleading. These self reports
are based on participant studies. The reason that using self reports can be problematic is
because according to science for all brainwaves these participants can end up lying which can
also result in false data when comparing or publishing to the public (Hoskin,2012) Racism today
is very sensitive and may not be looked at as serious in the healthcare field. Some believe that
research is like a “black box” one may never know what to expect with the outcome.
Researchers today may have even damaged these races social standings and the awareness of
their health.
In conclusion, I have learned from both side of it being an important science versus
being unsound. I do believe that race and ethnicity needs to continue to be researched because
by continuing this is will allow society to look into different problems that race can cause. Even
though race has said to be not biological, the data given from Dr. Kriegers’ presentation has
shown otherwise. Race is an important factor when it comes to health and learning in the
classes taken in the past, it has shown me that race can affect everything and that we must look
at different factors when doing research.

Hoskin, R. (2015, August 17). The dangers of self-report. Retrieved February 07, 2018, from
http://www.sciencebrainwaves.com/the-dangers-of-self-report/

Krieger, N. (2011, April 13). Racism and Health: An Ecosocial Perspective. Retrieved February
07, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aggJEVbfNjk